Revision as of 12:39, 10 May 2010

This guide is intended to list abstract and indexing services for the scholarly, professional and technical literature relevant to communications. As a field of study, communications varies greatly from one institution to the other, ranging from professional training programs for journalism and broadcast media to highly interdisciplinary programs in the social sciences and humanities. In that broader sense, its interests may encompass mass media, intercultural or interpersonal communication, human-machine interaction, telecommunications, advertising, etc.

The first section of this guide describes databases specifically targeted for the discipline of communications. The second section includes those which focus on related disciplines such as anthropology, business, film, gender studies, law, history, sociology and psychology. Online services are listed, with availability in print also indicated. Dates of coverage indicated represent earliest available, whether print or online. URLs provided are for the vendor which provides the database.

Additions: these and other databases recommended for specific communication research topics are listed on the subject guides.

Exclusions: general and multidiscipline databases (whether scholarly or popular literature) which could be used for any and all areas of study; databases serving strictly as sources of news; collections of market research data and financial information.

I. Communication Studies Specific

Icon Key:

$ = Paid access

F = Free access

E= Available electronically

P= Available in print

ComDisDOME 1997-current ($ E)
Updated continuously, ComDisDOME is an information service, or portal, developed by communication sciences and disorders educators and professionals for educators, clinicians, researchers, and students in the fields of audiology and speech-language pathology. The database connects users to over 130,000 citations from over 125 journals in the field (with full text purchase options) and searches multiple content sources, including books and dissertations, from one location. It also provides links to associated authors, institutions, and web sites.
Vendor site: http://www.comdisdome.com/index.jsp?_dm=comdis&_sk

Communication Abstracts 1978-current ($ E P)
Abstracts articles, reports, papers, books from a variety of publishers and research institutions in all areas of communication. Topics include (among many others) advertising, communication theory and technology, gender and communication, interpersonal and speech communication, journalism, mass media, public opinion. Available online from CSA Internet Database Service. Also available in print from Sage Publications. Subscribers to print version may have online access to more recent years (1998-present) from OCLC Firstsearch Electronic Collections Online (ECO).
Vendor site: http://www.csa.com/
Vendor site: http://www.oclc.org/
Publisher site: http://www.sagepub.com/

Communication and Mass Media Complete ($ E)
Dates of coverage vary. Provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for over 300 journals, and selected coverage of over 100 more, a total of 400 titles in areas related to communication and mass media as well a communication sciences and disorders. Includes full text for over 200 journals. Many major journals are covered from their first issues to the present (some dating as far back as he early 20th century. CMMC incorporates CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association (NCA), and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Pennsylvania State University). Also available without full text as Communication and Mass Media Index. Earlier portions of NCA’s CommSearch also available in print as Index to Journals in Communication Studies Through 1995.
Vendor site: http://www.ebsco.com/home
Vendor site: http://www.ebscohost.com/titleLists/uf-coverage.htm

CIOS: Communication Institute for Online Scholarship
Dates of coverage vary, with the majority beginning with a journal's first issue, and a few extending back to the early 20th century. Indexing of journal literature is available in three versions. Two are online at http://www.cios.org/, at different levels of institutional membership, which also includes access to other CIOS information resources. One is available for mounting locally, including annual updates. Vendor site: http://www.cios.org/

ComAbstracts ($ E)

Provides indexing, abstracting, and selected full text of articles from more than 100 journals in communication, journalism, and mass media. Topics include (among many others) mass communication and society, public relations, health communication, and gender and communication. Coverage varies by publications indexed. Available online with expanded institutional membership.

ComIndex ($ E)

A DOS-based database about 100 journals from first issue or 1970, whichever is earlier. May be purchased for mounting locally; annual updates available by FTP.

Open Journals Index (E)

Table of contents indexing from 35 journals in communication. Available online with basic institutional membership.

Index to Journals in Communication Studies Through 1995($ P)
Dates of coverage vary. Last of five editions prepared by the National Communication Association, listing contents of 24 key journals from the earliest issue through 1995, with author and keyword subject indexes appended. Continued by NCA’s CommSearch database, which was in turn incorporated into Communication and Mass Media Complete (see, above). No longer published, but various editions are in many libraries and may be available from Out-of-Print dealers.

Journalism and Mass Communication Abstracts ($ for P; F for E)
Detailed abstracts of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses, provided by the authors; prepared by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Formerly known as Journalism Abstracts (1963-93). Back volumes available in print from 1963-1997. Available for free online 1996-present.
Vendor site: http://www.aejmc.org/abstracts/

Sage Communication Studies full text Collection Dates of coverage vary. ($ E)
Includes the full text of 16 journals published by SAGE and participating societies, some journals going back twenty years, encompassing over 4,200 articles. It covers such subjects as journalism, public opinion, political communication, mass communication, interpersonal communication, cultural studies / intercultural communication, television / film studies, media studies, business communication, organizational / management communication, written communication, rhetoric, and literacy studies.
Vendor site: http://www.sagefulltext.com/home.aspx?id=8

Content by: Elliot Kanter

Last modified: Monday June 11, 2007

Updated by: Elliot Kanter

II. Related Disciplines

Icon Key:

$ = Paid access

F = Free access

E= Available electronically

P= Available in print

NOTE: Students and scholars in communication are likely to need discovery tools for research in many other disciplines: in business, arts & humanities, and social & health sciences. Because the field is so interdisciplinary, and because individual communication programs can vary greatly, it seemed more useful to provide a single, alphabetical list rather than to break them into a number of separate categories.

America: History and Life 1964-current($ E P)
Covers all periods of U.S. and Canadian history. Valuable for treatment of all aspects of the history of communications media and industries, from beginning of the modern era to the past decade. Includes scholarly journals from throughout the world. See Historical Abstracts for the rest of the world.
Vendor site: http://www.abc-clio.com
Publisher site: http://www.abc-clio.com

Business Periodicals Index / Wilson Business Abstracts / Wilson Business Full Text($ E P)
Business Periodicals Index has been available online since 1982, with abstracts since the mid-nineties in Wilson Business Abstracts, and select full text since 1995 in Wilson Business Full Text.
Vendor Site: http://www.hwwilson.com/
Publisher Site: http://www.hwwilson.com/

Business Source Complete / Business Source Premier / Business Source Elite($ E)
Business Search Complete offers access to more than 8,800 journals. Business Search Premier and Business Search Elite are subsets of Complete. Premier offers more than 2,300 journals while Elite offers over 1,100 journals.
Vendor site: http://www.ebsco.com/home/

Chicano database dates of coverage vary ($ E)
The Chicano Database is a comprehensive bibliographic index representing all types of material for information about Mexican-American topics and the only specialized database for and about Chicanos. Updated quarterly, the Chicano Database provides extensive coverage from the 1960s to the present, with selective coverage dating back to the early 1900s.
Vendor site: http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/firstsearch/z3950/z3950_databases/specs/chicano.htm

Current Index to Legal Periodicals Most recent 12-18 months
Provides timely topical access to approximately 475 law school reviews and other selected legal journals organized in 100 subject headings. In addition, CILP provides full tables of contents of all journals indexed.
Vendor site: http://lib.law.washington.edu/cilp/cilp.html

Contemporary Women’s Issues 1992-current
Provides indexing, abstracting, and selected full text coverage of magazine and journal articles, government documents, book reviews, newsletters, and reports from women’s organizations. Topics range from beauty standards to the visual arts (among many others). Topics specific to communication studies include gender and communication, entertainment, images of women, and mass media. Coverage is from 1992 to the present.
Vendor site: http://www.galegroup.com/

ERIC 1966-current
The world's largest source of education information, long funded by the US Department of Education’s Educational Resources Information Center. Covers all areas of education, from early childhood to college and university. Contains more than one million abstracts of documents and journal articles on education research and practice. Available through several different vendors with linking to EDRS for full text access. Updated weekly. Indexing/abstracting also freely available via the Educators Reference Desk (http://www.eduref.org/Eric/). Also available in print in two segments: Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE), 1969-present; and for the ERIC documents, Resources in Education
Vendor site: multiple vendors, see http://www.eric.ed.gov/

Factiva Dates of coverage vary
Provides a single point of access to a deep archive of news and business information from over 8,000 sources in 22 languages, including local, national and international newspapers, leading business magazines, trade publications, and newswires. Company analysis with access to historical market data, interactive charting, financial statements, and company reports from D&B and Investext. Continuously updated.
Vendor site: http://www.factiva.com/

FIAF: International Filmarchive 1972-current
Includes International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-present) and International Index to Television Periodicals (1979-present). Offers in-depth coverage of 300 of the world’s foremost academic and popular film and television journals. Divided into three areas: general subjects, individual films, and biographies. This is a good source for European films. Available online from Ovid/SilverPlatter. International Index to Film Periodicals is also available in print from R.R. Bowker
Vendor site: http://www.ovid.com/site/products/index.jsp?top=2

Film Literature Index 1973-current
This is a periodical index to the international literature of film, television and video. Geared for the specialist, or general reader knowledgeable in film/TV. It is supported by the University at Albany- SUNY. Currently available in print on a subscription basis; a retrospective, fully searchable online version (1976-2001) is currently available for free.
Site: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/fli/index.jsp

Film & Television Literature Index 1987-present
Also limited coverage 1970-86. Covers writing about film and television for scholars, students and the general public. Subjects include film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, reviews. Available from EBSCO
Vendor Site: http://www.ebscohost.com/

Historical Abstracts 1954-current
History of all regions (except the U.S. and Canada; see America: History and Life). Valuable for treatment of all aspects of the history of communications media and industries, from beginning of the modern era to the past decade. Includes scholarly journals from throughout the world. Also available in print from ABC Clio.
Vendor site: http://www.abc-clio.com
Publisher site: http://www.abc-clio.com

Index to Legal Periodicals & Books / Index to Legal Periodicals Full Text / Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective
Index to Legal Periodicals & Books has been available online since 1982, with select full text since 1994 in Index to Legal Periodicals Full Text. Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective: 1908-1981 indexes the earlier years.
Vendor site: http://www.hwwilson.com/
Publisher site: http://www.hwwilson.com

International Index to Black Periodicals dates of coverage vary
IIBP Full Text includes current and retrospective bibliographic citations and abstracts from over 150 scholarly and popular journals, newspapers and newsletters from the United States, Africa and the Caribbean (some as far back as 1902)--and full-text coverage of over 40 core Black Studies periodicals (1998 forward). Coverage is international in scope and multidisciplinary--spanning cultural, economic, historical, religious, social, and political issues of vital importance to the Black Studies discipline.
Vendor site: http://iibp.chadwyck.com/

LexisNexis Academic dates of coverage vary
Full text collections which include the following: National and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources. U.S. Federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, international legal information and patent law. (Note: LEXIS.com is the full legal file used for in-depth legal research; available only to law schools at discounted academic rate.) Shepard’s® Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789. Business news journals, company financial information, SEC filings and reports, and industry and market news. Updated daily.
Vendor site: http://www.lexisnexis.com/default.asp

Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts 1973-current
Updated five times a year, this database contains more than 244,000 citations with abstracts to the world's published literature on the nature, use, and teaching of language as well as linguistics, speech, communication, and related topics. Includes citations to book reviews appearing in serials abstracted for the print Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts. Available in print from CSA.
Vendor site: http://www.csa.com/

MEDLINE and as PubMED 1953-current
Updated monthly, MEDLINE is the premier source for bibliographic and abstract coverage of biomedical and allied health literature. It includes over 15 millon records and covers more than 3,600 journals. MEDLINE corresponds in part to the following print indexes: Index Medicus, Index to Dental Literature, and International Nursing. Available for free from the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Also available by subscription from multiple vendors and with different search interfaces: EBSCO, FirstSearch and Ovid.
Vendor site: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed

MLA International Bibliography 1963-current
This is an index produced by the Modern Language Association. Subjects included are literature, language, linguistics, literary theory and criticism, film studies, folklore and dramatic arts. Coverage is international and over 4,400 journals are indexed. Available through multiple vendors, including EBSCOHost and OVID. Available in print from the Modern Language Association.
Vendor sites: http://www.ebscohost.com/ and http://www.ovid.com/site/index.jsp
Publisher site: http://www.mla.org/bibliography

PsycINFO (Psychological Abstracts) 1840-present
Provides access to international literature in psychology and related disciplines. Includes psychological research and its applications. Of special is extensive coverage of cross-cultural and intercultural psychology and cognitive science. The sources include over 1,800 professional journals, chapters, books, reports, theses and dissertations, published internationally. Available from multiple vendors, in print and CDROM.
Vendor site: http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS International) 1972-current
Abstracting/indexing of materials on issues of public policy from 1972 to date, including government, economy, and law. Lists articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs. Highly international in coverage and sources. Available from multiple vendors. Retrospective coverage (1915-1976) is available.
Vendor site: [1]
Publisher site: [2]

Sociological Abstracts 1963-present
Abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,700 serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Records added after 1974 contain in-depth and nonevaluative abstracts of journal articles. Topics covered include culture and social structure, demography and human biology, and social psychology and group interaction. Also available in print.
Vendor site: http://www.csa.com/
Publisher site: http://www.scglabstrc.qpg.com/

Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts 1995-current
Provides abstracting of journal articles and books on topics such as media treatment of women, gender role socialization, women’s health, and social policy (among other topics). Where possible, abstracts are linked to full text articles. Available in print; institutional subscribers also receive online access.
Vendor site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/swa/
Publisher site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/swa/

Women’s Studies International 1972-present
This key resource integrates ten different women's studies databases, including Women Studies Abstracts. Provides domestic and international coverage of women's studies topics, including topics specific to communication studies such as women’s role in the media, television and telecommunications, film, and advertising. Provides indexing and abstracting of journals, books, magazines, and theses and dissertations (among other materials).
Vendor site: http://www.nisc.com/factsheets/qwri.asp

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts 1975-current
Produced by CSA, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including political communication and public opinion. Updated monthly and includes materials published since 1975.
Vendor site: http://www.csa.com/